Chestnut breakage

Broken chestnuts (also known as "brises" or chestnut bulgur) are dried chestnuts that have been crushed. They were originally the ancient cereals of the Ardèche region before the arrival of wheat. Nowadays, they are used as an accompaniment to meat or fish.

They are delicious when served with slow-cooked meat dishes. The challenge when cooking broken chestnuts is to rehydrate them properly. It is therefore possible to soak them beforehand, like legumes, to reduce their cooking time. They can also be added at the beginning of cooking a vegetable soup to thicken it.